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Dirk Serries returns to Projekt Records with The Origin Reversal, a re-boot of his classic vidnaObmana sound. This is ambient music that flows from its discreet origins: sonic purity, washes of harmony, and organic textures which slow time to a phase of transcendence.

Picking up on the 1988 – 1996 vidnaObmana ambient period (mostly released on Projekt), The Origin Reversal‘s six tracks are informed with a subtlety that only comes from Serries’ decades of musical growth exploring his craft. After the understated, meditative 2012 collaboration with Steve Roach, Low Volume Music (PRO277), Serries reestablished himself as the ambient artist known worldwide for minimal, warm and introspective sonic atmospheres. Performed in real-time directly to a stereo 2-track, Serries
created these six tracks armed only with a Gibson Les Paul custom guitar and a few pedals. Despite the use of different tools from his electronic heritage, The Origin Reversal shows a refinement and maturity achieved through extensive touring, intriguing side-projects, recordings and collaborations.

The Belgium-based Serries has experimented with ambient music for over 30 years. His earliest work came out under the vidnaObmana pseudonym, until he closed the book on that project in 2007. In the ensuing seven years, he released over twenty albums under various monikers before returning to a refined stream of ambient works. October 2013 saw three solo albums on limited edition 180-gram vinyl. Unedited live performances meant to run the length of a side of a vinyl record, they were published on the boutique Tonefloat:Ikon imprint. These three LPs were followed by a few digital-only albums.

The hypnotic nature of Serries’ music comes with time and restrained anticipation. It’s all about a delicate touch that never disturbs the continuum between sound and silence.

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Belgian ambient artist Dirk Serries conceived this album in partnership with Projekt Records, which carried his work from the 80s and 90s when he was operating under the moniker vidnaObmana. All five pieces were recorded live to a two-track machine using just a Gibson Les Paul and an arsenal of effects. Based on that premise, one would expect something similar to Robert Fripp’s soundscapes, since that’s essentially his live methodology as well. But this is a somewhat different animal. These pieces are generally more diaphanous and grounded with none of the dark narrative arcs often present in Fripp’s work.

Like many in his field, Serries allows his recordings to unfold gradually and spontaneously, with plenty of time to let the washes of ambience soak in. Tracks like “The Dead Air Reprise” feature a wide array of tones all layered and intertwined into a colorful sonic tapestry. Others, such as “Transfuse the Phantom,” are harmonically more narrowly focused and drone-like. Serries also explores how much weight and intensity he can bring to these soundscapes. Tracks like “Radiant Down” employ a modest yet elegant range of notes. By contrast, a piece like “Remission” is built upon continuous chord swells that produces a heavier, thicker (and louder) construct. A tonal center can usually be found in each track, which helps provide a focal point for the listener, no matter how closely they may be paying attention. Whether you’re a fan of Serries or vidnaObmana, this is a collection worth checking out. -Paul Hightower

The album title suggest a kind of return to the basics. Indeed, Serries revisits the time when he created hypnotic ambient soundscapes under the alter-ego moniker vidnaObmana, a name he used since the mid-eighties until the the middle of the last decade, often for the same label. Serries uses his extensive experience and employs his effects laden electric guitar to sketch patiently on real-time, nuanced layers of gentle and warm sounds that transform into meditative textures. Each of the five serene, resonant soundscapes has its delicate dynamics and defined spirit and all sound surprising rich in detail, depth and color.

The number of projects, releases and illustrious collaborations Dirk Serries has participated in, I’d like to believe needs no clarification in an ambient-based zine such as this one. This Belgian craftsman of abrasive electronics, noise/ drone, meditative ambient and atmospheric harmonies and dissonances has been active since 1985; with his monikers Fear Falls Burning and especially Vidna Obmana, he constitutes nothing less than an ambient legend. If despite the bulk, range and accessibility of his work you’re still not very familiar with him, I suggest you start with his website (http://dirkserries.com/) and the Projekt records Bandcamp (http://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/), and take it from there.

After successfully closing the cycles of Vidna Obmana and Fear Falls Burning, Serries decided he no longer needed a musical alter ego, and since 2008 he has been releasing under his own name. The Origin Reversal as stated in the label website was ‘performed in real-time directly to a stereo 2-track, […] only with a Gibson Les Paul custom guitar and a few pedals.’ Unsurprisingly for those of us who enjoyed Serries’ 2012 collaboration with Steve Roach, Low Volume Music, this album is strongly reminiscent of the more meditative moments of Vidna Obmana, and moves in an aura of serenity and benevolent introspection. In the CD sleeve is found the phrase ‘improvisations, streams of consciousness’, that I believe is a great start to its interpretation. Although segmented in 5 long pieces – the longest of which being the closing track, “Transfuse The Phantom”, that runs for 21,5 minutes – the differentiations between them are barely perceptible and the transition is purposefully made as smooth and seamless as possible. While the artist advises us to play at low volume, I’ve found it works better for me at average to low volume; of course that depends on the state you’re in during your listen, and the way you wish to immerse yourself.

The titles are something of an enigma, subtly suggesting an alternate dimension full of light, energy and angelic harmonies. The first track, “Radiant Down” is the first step up this ladder of self-forgetfulness and enlightenment. The musician touches his chords lightly, caressingly, and the serene notes resonate into a clear, purified ether. The minimalistic melody and rhythm unfolds slowly, lingering on the border between ambience and music. It undulates and envelops you like a wave of mild heat, offering that familiar, numbing euphoria of warmth succeeding frost. Then ends as it began with the volume fading out, a technique that the artist uses throughout the whole album, so that the shift doesn’t intrude on the listener’s transcendental state of mind. “Remission” is more dramatic, with higher pitched drones and sharper tones, emanating a colder, more elevated atmosphere. The sound is also a bit fuzzy, approaching the area of shoegaze/ post rock but not quite breaching it. When combined with the reduced presence of melody, this slight grind in the sound gives the impression of a purification or cleansing; a process that denotes a passage, a turning point in the journey. The level of intensity remains unchanged throughout, and the volume gradually decreases for most of the final segment.

“The Dead Air Reprise” is exactly what the title states, namely an alternate take on the basic theme of “Radiant Down”, more hypnotic and expansive than the previous version. The melody is still there, but it is less prominent, and as the title suggests it feels as if it’s being delivered in some kind of etheric vacuum. The notes become drifting, luminous shapes radiating in a light that is almost blinding. Floating in the currents of air like angelic feathers, they carry us away into this realm of supernatural bliss. It functions as a preparation and a gateway. And in this state of ecstasy and purity we come closer to the “Notion Of The Invert”, where every thing is its opposite and definitions or particularities cancel eachother out. We are everything and nothing, and so we become one with the light. This progress is noted by the presence of buzzing drones in the middle segment, and the choice of the artist to use a tighter and ‘heavier’ arrangement. The music seems as if lifting the weight of the soul forwards and upwards, gently urging it to take that ultimate step. In “Transfuse The Phantom” the guitars are finally crossing into post-rock territory, with layers of smooth, reverberating drones lending their now metallic, now ethereal-sounding voices to the performance of this mystical choir. Like the whispers of spirits, they weave a trail of ascension and spiritual illumination. The escalation is here, but it is an even, perfectly arranged one, where there is no room for feelings of uncertainty or doubt. All that exists is joy and fulfilment.

The Origin Reversal is masterfully done, admirably inspired and absolutely distinctive drone ambient, representing the trademark sound of an artist who has rightfully gained his place among the greats of contemporary electronic and ambient music. But it is also much more than that. It’s one of those little islands of light and inner truth that have become so scarce in our world. A pure expression of inner peace and contemplation. One that if you put in but the slightest effort to access, will fill you with its bright, invigorating energy so that when your journey has ended, part of you will be renewed. How many artists can truly say that their art can change its audience? Let alone for that change to be of a permanent, lasting nature. The Origin Reversal apart from its undeniable musical worth can be a constant companion for inspiration and personal transformation, if you allow it. -Vitriol

The journey begins quietly – from out of the trembling air directly to our awaiting consciousness. The Origin Reversal (72’29”) by Dirk Serries speaks to the listener in a way words cannot. The required willingness to stretch our minds to every dimension that music occupies is essential to the full enjoyment of this release. On this front Serries is way ahead of most. Having traveled through an extensive and impressive diversity of specialized personas and landscapes under the names vidnaObmana, Fear Falls Burning, The Black Fire, Principle of Silence, 3 Seconds of Air and others Serries has at this moment settled upon exploring the beautiful mystery and possibilities in his electric guitar’s expressive timbre.

The Origin Reversal sessions were the perfect opportunity to re-visit an earlier musical state, now informed by years of creating works outside of it. The gradual pacing, continual contour balancing and concise arrangement of sonic forms imparts all the impressions of self-portraiture. Its stark formal simplicity reduces the planes of the sonorous space into a few distinctive arcing lines of harmonic progression – in a resounding, recurring, returning and retracting ambient order. Each of The Origin Reversal‘s five parts begins quietly as notes murmur and repeat alongside one another in minimal tension. The familiar pluck of the guitar has been suppressed so these notes and chords come through in pleasant swells, yet somewhere within we may feel a tightening, a verging, a hope of release. Each new tone seems breathed into the air in an expansion of texture. Triads circulate and recycle in pleasant ways, but due to the mild discord Serries introduces into each track the sensation of resolution never quite arrives. There is a biological basis for the concepts of consonance and dissonance as the primitive parts of our brain makes sense of sounds first. Serries knows how much it takes of each to create an interesting piece of music – in an emanation that reveals truths recounted only when the last echo has subsided. -Chuck van Zyl/STAR’S END

After exploring intense guitar drones for several years as Fear Falls Burning, Series returns with this release to the ambient tuneage he crafted as vidnaObmana.

Languid textures unfurl with seductive deliberation, establishing an atmospheric realm whose sedate harmonies lure in the listener with ease. These textures are smoothly released, manifesting as sighing tones that ebbed and flow according to their particular temperament. The gentle interplay of these tandem threads created fresh sonic identities, which in turn evolved to form more gestalts as the tunes progress. Variation is often difficult to detect, for the changes occur with such adept subtlety.

The “tone” of these tones is generally low-key, soft and unintrusive. Mellow pulsations stretch out to near-infinite definition, undulating through each track. Their singsong character lends to impressions of expansive regions clouded by enticing effluvium.

These compositions are designed to separate the listener from their immediate environments, lifting their attention to more vaporous vistas which invariably lead inwards, transporting the listener inside their own consciousness. There, a state of detachment mutates into a sense of connectivity with the world they left behind. Everything coexists on the same plane and thereby everywhere is equally reachable. The extreme length of these songs foster ample opportunity for the sonic traveler to satisfy their zoned-out needs. -Matt Howarth

If there’s a key that unlocks Dirk Serries’ The Origin Reversal, it’s located on the release’s inner sleeve, where the instruction “Play at low volume” and the clarifying detail “All improvisations: streams of consciousness” appear. The Origin Reversal can be seen, in other words, as Serries operating in ambient mode, specifically in the ambient soundsculpting style of his vidnaObmana persona, which the Belgium-based guitarist formally retired in 2007. Ostensibly, The Origin Reversal represents a reboot of the vidnaObmana project—something of a surprise, no doubt, to long-time Serries devotees who had come to believe the project was permanently over.

In fact, the move doesn’t come as a total surprise, given the release in 2012 of Low Volume Music, his meditative collaboration with Steve Roach, and the 2013 release on Tonefloat:Ikon of three solo albums featuring long-form live performances. Executed by the guitarist in real-time directly to a stereo two-track using a Gibson Les Paul, pedals, and effects, The Origin Reversal feels very much like a natural extension of Serries’ recent output.

If one abides by the “Play at low volume” instruction, one discovers that the album does achieve Serries’ presumed aim in the way it floods the space with multi-layered, ambient-styled textures. But the optimal way to experience the album is with the volume up, as doing so allows one to better appreciate the wave-like unfolding of the slow-burning material and the way its ripples overlap so hypnotically.

Admittedly, The Origin Reversal does adhere to the conventions of ambient music in one clear sense, specifically in emphasizing settings that are placid, harmonious, and soothing as opposed to aggressive and dissonant. All five settings are strong, but special mention must be made of the album’s longest track, “Transfuse the Phantom,” a towering, twenty-one-minute set-piece of galaxial scope that closes the set with multiple demonstrations of expertly controlled blaze. Here and elsewhere, Serries, abetted by decades of experience, demonstrates remarkable poise and mastery in the way he shapes the material in real-time.

October, the month of Halloween, the one day of the year people actually want to plunder my wardrobe. And, seemingly in preparation for this ghoulish holiday, there are a remarkable number of frighteningly good albums emerging like zombies from the grave, here to munch through a few brains…Harking back to his earliest ambient experiments on The Origin Reversal, Dirk Serries continues to produce lush and hypnotic drones with nothing more than a guitar and his trusty effects pedals. Drawn out from a series of improvised sessions, this is album filled with a delicate warmth, a comforting blanket of massive soundscapes that is the aural equivalent of soaking in a blissfully hot bath. -Dominic Hemy

A few Italians and the occasional stray cat are the only ones who are cognizant about my antediluvian function of appraiser and commentator – solely in a domestic idiom – of the most evolved forms of (a-hem) “ambient” materials on the pages of my late comrade Gianluigi Gasparetti’s Deep Listenings quarterly. Among umpteen names, Dirk Serries’ work was all the rage in our houses at the time, obviously under the Vidna Obmana mask; he and GG got in touch at one point, if I recall correctly. It was a marvelous period of daily discoveries; we were constantly swapping experiences and feelings on diversely droning/reverberating albums, systematically originating playful attacks against each other’s favorites (one of Gianluigi’s targets being my esteem for Czech composer Jaroslav Krček, certainly not an exponent of the same aural territories).

Now and then, I sincerely miss those times. That’s why – besides the authentically superior quality of the music – I rate this new message by Serries so much. Bypassing the harsher aspects of his production as Fear Falls Burning to return to a more sympathetic dimension of spacial magnitude, The Origin Reversal conveys the awareness of a serene approach to the act of existing which is emblematic of the best contemporary ambient. This does not exclude deeply interior issues, in this particular case related with the maturation process of two close friends moved by analogous energies. The Gibson Les Paul is also a favorite electric guitar over here; that definitely helps. Ultimately, you can easily imagine what this record is made of: washes of attractively swelling superimposed chordal essences, where the frequencies of numberless pitches never fight, tending instead to signify a single organism of half-ethereal extraction. Potential remote comparisons: Paul Bradley, Suso Saiz, David Tollefson and so forth. Contemplative matters of quite a high caliber, no pontifical cerebrations or superficial effects to grab the ear of the average “I-won’t-listen-but-I’ll-download” illiterate. The soundtrack of a slightly sorrowful recollection that, at the end, bends the lips upwards in a smile of affection for people and memories that have defined our earlier life. -Massimo Ricci

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